Surrey Association for Visual Impairment. Making a visible difference in Surrey.
Vounteering
Volunteering Services
Read about a brief history of volunteering, and where we are today. Alternatively you can go straight to information about Volunteer Support from here if you interested in service or straight to the Volunteer Recruitment if you are interested in applying to be a volunteer.
History of Volunteering in SAVI
Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI) originally started in 1922 and was then called the Surrey Voluntary Association for the Blind (SVAB). It was entirely run by volunteers. In 1923, SVAB put in place the role of Honorary Representatives. Honorary Representatives were voluntary workers living in various districts and parishes of Surrey. They would report their Blind cases quarterly to the Honorary Secretary as well as make special enquiries when a district in County had no Visitor working there.
The Charity remained a prodominately voluntarily run organisation until 1975, when a grant was given to SVAB from Surrey County Council for a paid full time General Secretary and Administrative Assistant.
If you would like to know more about the history and time line of SAVI follow the History link.
Volunteer Recruitment
We now have over 300 volunteers working for us. They have a variety of tasks they can apply for with in our organisation and without their help we would not achieve nearly as much as we do.
Read below about one of the roles that support visually impaired people. If you would like to see the full details of roles that volunteers can apply to do and what happens when you apply, go to the Volunteer Recruitment page.
Home Visiting Service
Some of the services that involve volunteers are the Home Visiting Service. This scheme was first set up in 1983, but it had a false start and the scheme petered out with one remaining volunteer visiting in the Camberley area until 1997 when funding from Royal National Institue for the Blind provided three years funding from their scheme "Opportunities for Volunteering" and two new Volunteer Co-ordinators were recruited to set up a Home Visiting scheme for isolated older visually impaired people. This scheme proved very successful and continues today. Funding to continue this services has come from the Community Fund (Lottery), Europeon Social Fund and Great London Fund for the Blind, and we are constantly looking for ways to support this valuable service.
SAVI is supporting many visually impaired people in their own homes by providing a befriending visitor who also is the person's eyes during their visit. Go to the Home visiting page if you feel this support would help you, a relative or friend.
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Volunteer Co-ordinator profile
Find out more about Jason Spinney, Head of Community Services and Dennis Saunders, Home Visitor Supervisor
Sight Loss
Learn about the most common eye conditions that can cause visual impairment.
Macular Disease
Cataract
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
